Editing Port Aransas, Texas (section)

===European settlement===
[[Image:Mustang island 0001.png|thumb|[[Mustang Island]]]]
The first recorded permanent settler in Port Aransas was Capt. Robert Ainsworth Mercer of [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], [[England]]. He established a sheep and cattle ranch known as El Mar Rancho in 1853 or 1855. Herds of wild [[mustang horse|mustangs]] rambled over plush rangelands of the island when Mercer first settled there.

By 1854, the [[Texas Senate]] sanctioned a seven-mile (11&nbsp;km) channel from Corpus Christi to the Aransas Pass bar to better serve the Port of Corpus Christi. Also in the 1850s, a regular steamship service route for cargo and passengers was established between New Orleans and Mustang Island. As the pass was brought into permanence, local [[Maritime pilot|pilots]] were needed to guide the ships safely across the bar. For this, permanent structures were required to house the pilots, including docks, a lighthouse, storage, jetties, and a general store.